Bill Parsons

Born on 8 September 1934 in Crossville, Tennessee, Bill Parsons counted country singer Bobby Bare among his close friends. Before Bare entered the US Army, he promised to assist Parsons—fresh out of military service—in cutting a record. A clerical error at Fraternity Records, the label for which Bare himself recorded, resulted in the 1959 single “The All American Boy,” jointly written by Parsons and Bare under the pseudonym Orville Lunsford, being released under Parsons’s name even though Bare supplied the vocals. The track climbed to number 2 on the US pop charts while the actual Bill Parsons remained an onlooker. Because Bare had yet to attract notice in country music, the ruse extended to one additional single that failed to register on the charts. Bare subsequently resumed performing under his own name and, beginning in 1962, enjoyed a long and prosperous country career. Parsons, for his part, left the music industry after issuing two unsuccessful singles on Starday Records in 1960.